Deepak Baghel, an IIT Bombay alumnus turned motivational speaker, recently took to LinkedIn to share his profound personal journey. In his post, Mr Baghel recounted his battle with suicidal thoughts during a challenging period in his life and shared what helped him overcome it. He also detailed the three major problems that he faced during his college days. "As an IITian, today I'm a successful entrepreneur and motivational speaker, but in the past I've grappled with mental health challenges, even contemplating suicide once.. Suicidal thoughts and mental health struggles take various forms," Mr Baghel wrote.
In his post, the IIT alumnus recounted the distressing experience of having his hostel room locked due to financial constraints, a situation that left him deeply humiliated among his peers. "With no money in my account and my mother's salary delayed due to the financial year closing in 2015-16, I also had to arrange funds for my sister's medical college fees," he recalled.
Take a look at his post below:
The motivational speaker also shared the blow to his confidence upon failing a first-year course and having to repeat it in his fifth year. "A professor at IIT Bombay publicly criticized me, questioning how I could fail such a basic course when I came from a Govt. Hindi Medium school in M.P. I struggled to understand English questions for a year at IIT-B. The professor's words embarrassed me in front of over 200+ first-year students, leaving me holding back tears," he wrote.
Mr Baghel also talked about the hurdles he encountered due to institutional rigidity, citing an instance where a professor failed him due to a stringent Academic Reinforcement Program rule. "My Moodle Account was disabled for six months, forcing me to handle all tasks offline, including course registration. Every professor I approached for physical signatures to enroll in courses questioned why I had previously failed. This constant embarrassment compounded my struggles," he said.
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In his post, Mr Baghel recalled contemplating suicide, only to be reminded of his father's enduring struggle and eventual tragic demise. "Then, in a fleeting 2-5 second moment, all problems vanished as I contemplated jumping off the 5th floor. But then, I saw my father's photo and remembered his struggle till he was brutally murdered by society in 2004," he wrote at the end of his post.
Mr Baghel shared the post a week back. Since then, it has garnered over 800 reactions and several comments. Reacting to the post, one user wrote, "Bhai, appreciate you sharing so candidly! Must have taken a lot of courage!"
"Hi Deepak thanks for sharing. Truly inspiring. It takes courage to share the vulnerability. I"m sure this post will serve as motivation to a number of people going thru life situations. God speed to you," commented another.
